Puppies Solve Everything
by The-Jean-Kirstein
Summary: On one particularly shitty day at work, Marco plans a surprise for Jean! Fluff/angst


Puppies Solve Everything

"Fucking Jaeger, ugh." Jean grumbled as he left work.

Eren had done it again. He'd gloated about his promotion. Again. This is the second promotion Jaeger's gotten in 2 months. He walked up to Jean and bragged about it, _on purpose. _Jean knew he was trying to start a fight, and he was already grouchy so he had tried to avoid it. That was however, until Eren pointed out how Jean hadn't gotten a promotion in his whole 2 years of working there. Jean snapped at that point and grabbed Eren by his collar and proceeded to have what seemed like a screaming contest before their new employee, Mikasa stepped in and broke it up.

_/Jaeger did it again, Marco. I'm so fucking pissed, be warned./ _Jean texted Marco before getting in his car and driving home, getting mad at every red light along the way. When Jean finally got home, he slammed his car door. _I was supposed to have a fun night with my best friend, but Jaeger fucking ruined it. _Jean grumbled as he stormed his way towards his house. He opened the door and slammed it shut only to find Marco standing about 10 feet away, fully dressed in all his winter clothing. "Marco, why are you-" Jean started, only to be cut off by Marco.

"We're going out Jean!" Marco cheered.

"Didn't you get my text? I'm not in the mood." Jean hissed.

"Come on Jean! It'll be fun! I'm gonna turn that frown upside down!" Marco shot back with a smile.

"No, Marco."

"Yes, Jean." Marco said as he grabbed Jean by the door and proceeded to pull him out the front door.

"Marco, stop! Let go of me!" Jean resisted, flailing his arms, trying to get out of Marco's grasp.

"Not till we get in the car!"

"Aww come on, your shoes have better grip than mine!"

"Sure, that's what it is." Marco retorted, before opening the car door and putting Jean inside. "Buckle up, cowboy!"

"Wha- no! Marco! I don't want to-" Jean protested.

"Jean, frankly, I don't care. We're going whether you like it or not!" Marco stated, with a forced smile. "Now, let's get going." He added as he hopped in the driver's side.

"Will you at least tell me where we're going?" Jean asked, defeated.

"Nope!"

**(one boring car trip later)**

"And here we are, Jeanny boy!"

"Marco, I said don't call me Jeanny boy." Jean grumbled as Marco got out of the car.

"Too late. Now, come on. I promise you'll have fun." Marco said, opening Jean's door with a hand out.

"Ugh, fine. If I don't you owe me." Jean replied, reluctantly taking Marco's hand and walking to the building.

"The SPCA? Why are we here?" Jean questioned.

"All questions will be answered when we're done." Marco replied.

"Flashback to school much." Jean murmured.

Marco stepped ahead of Jean to open the doors for him. "M'lady." Marco said, bowing.

"Fuck off Marco." Jean replied, a slight smile growing on his face. (that sounds weird help me)

"Hey, no swearing Jean. There could be kids." Marco warned, following Jean through the doors.

"Hello! We'd like to see your cutest puppies, please!" Marco purred to the lady at the front desk.

"Alright, I'll see if our play room is open, one second." She replied, scurrying into the back room.

"So this is why we're here? Puppies? You know I'm a cat person!" Jean scoffed.

"Yeah but puppies are better to cheer someone up! They can jump all over you and lick you! Kittens, not so much. Come on Jean! Cheer up!" Marco beamed.

"Fine, Marco. I'll try, for you." Jean replied, shooting him a false smile.

"Alright, the room is open." The secretary stated as she returned. "Would you like them individually or in a group?"

"Group!" Marco said, smiling widely.

"Sounds good. Follow me, the puppies will arrive shortly after." She answered, leading the two down a hall into a small, tiled room.

After a short wait several staff members walked in carrying two puppies each. They set the dogs down and let them run. Jean watched the puppies running back and forth. Two of them caught his eye. A small brown and white puppy playing tug of war with a slightly larger golden retriever pup. They were the most adorable dogs Jean had ever seen. Marco noticed Jean's eyes light up and smiled hopefully. Jean got up and walked into the swarm of puppies, only to have them jump all over him. Jean sat down, smiling, to allow the puppies to climb on him. Jean smiled as one jumped in his lap, then soon two, then three, then suddenly six puppies were in his lap, jumping for his face. Jean smiled and fell backwards, overwhelmed by the mass of dog. The puppies ran up to his face and started furiously licking, causing Jean to burst out in laughter. One of the puppies licked inside his mouth, causing him to retract a bit. It was the brown and white pup he spotted earlier. Jean laughed and petted the small dog only to have the golden retriever push his body under Jean's hand, begging to be petted. Jean continued to play in the swarm of puppies for several more minutes before Marco grabbed him and told him it was time to go.

"Wait." Jean said, standing up. "I want to adopt one."

"You want to adopt one?!" Marco gasped.

"Actually, two." Jean replied nervously.

"Are you sure? Which two?" Marco questioned.

"Those two." Jean replied, pointing to the brown pup and the golden retriever.

"You do know they're going to get really big, right?" Marco said hesitantly.

"I know. I want them Marco. I need them."

"Well, fine. We'll get them." Marco answered. "What're you gonna name them?" Marco added.

"The brown one will be Eve and the golden one will be Cat." Jean answered.

"You're naming a dog Cat?"

"I am a cat person, Marco." Jean replied.

"Alright, sounds good."

_Quick little time lapse summary thing_

_After they get the puppies, whenever Jean's mad he plays with them. It's really cute. Tons of kisses. More than he's gotten from Marco._

_After the puppies grow up, they get big. Really big. Whenever Jean's grumpy they can tell now, since they've lived with the bastard for a while. They run up to him when he's upset and make him fall so they can kiss his face. It always cheers him up._

_And now, we continue. Around 10 years after we started this._

_BEEP BEEP BEEP. _Blared out from Jean's alarm clock. "Agh, fuck. Morning already?" He grumbled in a husky tone, fumbling for the snooze button. Jean looked down and saw Eve on his bed. She's never slept on his bed before. He smiled and crawled over to her, trying to wake her. "Hey pup, what're you doing up here?" He asked, smiling. He continued shaking her, but she didn't wake up. Jean's smile quickly faded. "No." He gasped, putting his hand in front of her nose to feel for breathing. She let out a breath. But it was shallow. Jean needed to act fast. "No! Damnit no! Don't die on me!" He screamed, picking her up. He bolted out of his house in nothing but his boxers, put her in his passenger seat and drove as fast as he could to the nearest vet. He kicked down the doors, holding Eve. "Help!" Jean screamed. "She's hardly breathing! Please!" He shouted, running up to the front desk.

"What is it?" A vet shouted, running from the back room.

"I woke up and she was hardly breathing! Please! You need to help me!" Jean cried.

"Okay, calm down. We'll take her-" The vet started.

"Don't tell me to calm down! My dog is fucking dying! I'll calm down when you do your fucking job and save my dog! Let's go!" Jean snapped,urging the vet to take his dog.

"Okay, come this way." The vet commanded, sensing Jean's urgency. She lead Jean down a hallway before entering a room with plenty of equipment Jean had never seen. The vet motioned to Jean that he should place Eve on the stretcher. His hands trembled as he placed her limp body down onto the fabric of the stretcher, enveloping her like a blanket. He gave Eve one last pat before raising his eyes back to the vet."Alright, now its our turn to see what we can do for your dog., you can wait at home and we'll give you a call when we know more." The vet said said, in the midst of barking out orders to her assistants

"Fuck no. I am staying here. I can't go home." Jean shouted in resistance.

"Sir, you're wearing nothing but your underwear. Please go home. I promise we'll call you if anything happens."

"Ugh. Fine. I'll go. Just don't let her die." Jean snapped then reluctantly left the room, trudging back to his car slowly, as if he was pushing through thick mud.

_Time lapse again to a few hours later woo_

Jean was laying on his couch, almost asleep when his phone started ringing, causing him to jolt awake. "Yes hello?!" Jean answered eagerly.

"Hello, this is Dr. Oshanek, we have news on your dog, but I think it'd be best told in person." The veterinarian spoke grimly.

"Uh, okay. I'm coming now." Jean said, fearing the worst.

_I time lapse too much but really, it's a car ride? He's just speeding and getting all antsy and shit_

Jean pulled into the parking lot, parking in two spots at once, then burst out of his car, slamming the door shut and sprinting towards the front entrance. "Hello?! I need to see Doctor Oshanek!" Jean shouted to the lady at the front desk.

"Okay, calm down." She replied with a smile. "Would Doctor Oshanek please report to the front desk." She spoke into the overcom (what are those called is that it idk)

Shortly after, the very same doctor who seemed to lack a sense of urgency walked up to the front desk, a solemn look on her face. "Jean Kirschtein?" She asked.

"It's not pronounced like Gene, it's French. And you fucking saw me this morning, of course it's me! Now, what did you need to tell me?" Jean snapped, getting closer to the veterinarian.

"Jean, I'm afraid we couldn't save your dog. Eve is dead." She stated, hardly changing her expression.

"You heartless bitch! Why didn't you save her?! She shouldn't have died yet! Fuck you and fuck this place!" Jean screeched, shaking Dr. Oshanek by the shoulders before resting his head against her chest and crying.

"Jean, we did everything we could. I'm sorry. You can always hold a funeral." Dr. Oshanek suggested, softening her gaze.

"Screw your funeral!" Jean shouted before storming out, receiving weird looks from strangers.

After that, Jean entered a depression. He wouldn't eat for days at a time. Cat of course, realized something was wrong so she tried her best to cheer him up. She would push herself under his hand like she did when she was a pup, lick him, lay with him, but to no avail. Jean wasn't having any of it. He wouldn't smile. The only allowance he would give himself were a few texts here and there so his friends wouldn't worry. Marco noticed something was off and would remind Jean to eat, drink water, and shower. It helped, but only a little.

One day, Marco called Jean. He had a surprise for him. Jean didn't answer. Fearing the worst, Marco drove straight to Jean's house as fast as he could. He knocked on the door. No answer. Marco reached under the door mat for the spare key and unlocked the door, storming into Jean's house. He looked around frantically, only to find Jean sleeping on the couch with Cat tucked under his arm. Marco sighed with relief. "Hey you big lug, get up. I have a surprise." Marco said, smiling widely. Jean didn't respond.

"Jean, come on. Get up." He spoke again, walking up to Jean.

"Jean buddy, it's like 4 o' clock. Wake up." This time Marco shook Jean lightly.

"Jean?" He said slowly, shaking him a little harder.

"Jean?! Wake up!" He shouted frantically, shaking Jean vigorously.

"Jean! Please wake up! Don't be dead, Jean!" Marco screeched, digging in his pocket for his phone then dialling 9-1-1.

"Hello?! Hello! Yes, my friend won't respond! Please! Hurry!" Marco shouted into the phone, still shaking Jean.

2 minutes later, the ambulance arrived at the scene. "Please! Over here!" Marco hollered as he heard the door opening.

"Move away, sir." A medic spoke, lightly pushing Marco away from his best friend.

"He has no pulse." The medic spoke, releasing Jean's wrist. "When did you get here?"

"About 7 minutes ago." Marco replied, tears falling down his face.

"It's too late. He's gone. Even if we were able to resuscitate him he'd have massive brain damage. I'm sorry." The medic replied, looking at Marco.

"No! Damnit!" Marco cried, moving to Jean.

Marco slowly grabbed Jean's hand and held on tight. "Jean, you moron. Why? Why did you have to die on me? We were supposed to grow old together. I-I had a surprise for y9u! Damnit, Jean." Marco whispered.

"Sir, please move away. We need to take him away now."

Marco silently moved away, still holding onto his hand as they placed Jean's lifeless body on the stretcher. "I love you, you moron." Marco whispered, slowly letting go of Jean's hand as they wheeled him away.

Tears started rolling down Marco's face. More tears fell now than ever before, even on the series finale of his favourite show. Marco grabbed Jean's dog leash and attached it to Cat's collar. "Come on." He murmured, pulling Jean's dog outside to his car, where Jean's surprise was waiting. Marco looked through the window of his car and rested his head against it. Inside, he saw a pair of innocent eyes staring back at him, tail wagging, and then, at that moment, Marco knew that nothing would be the same again.


End file.
